The well-known Darwinian evolutionary theory (1859) introduced natural selection as the most important mechanism of evolutionary processes at every level from biological systems, including species ... [more ▼]

The well-known Darwinian evolutionary theory (1859) introduced natural selection as the most important mechanism of evolutionary processes at every level from biological systems, including species, individual organisms… to molecules such as DNA or proteins. In architecture we observe similar evolution processes which lead to the development of various architectural movements and concepts from common primitive living structures. The study points out that the development of bioclimatism in architecture has followed the pattern of a natural evolutionary process in which “natural selection” is likely motivated by several factors, including resources and environment problems, and driven by different mechanisms including novel building design concepts and methods, new standards and codes, discoveries in building science and construction costs. Finally, this study investigates new motivations in the era of climate change whose effects are expected to introduce more challenges as well as more trends towards a sustainable built environment through the new concept of Eco-adaptive architecture. [less ▲]

Monotone systems are dynamical systems whose solutions preserve a partial order in initial conditions for all times. It stands to reason that some systems may preserve a partial order only after an ... [more ▼]

Monotone systems are dynamical systems whose solutions preserve a partial order in initial conditions for all times. It stands to reason that some systems may preserve a partial order only after an initial transient. These systems are usually called eventually monotone. While monotone systems have an easy characterization in terms of the sign pattern of the Jacobian matrix (i.e. Kamke-M\"uller condition), eventually monotone systems have not been characterized in such an explicit manner. In order to provide such a characterization, we drew inspiration from the results for linear systems, where eventually monotone (positive) systems are studied using the spectral properties of the system (i.e. Perron-Frobenius property). In the case of nonlinear systems, a spectral characterization of nonlinear eventually monotone systems is not straightforward, but can be obtained in the framework of the so-called Koopman operator. Additionally, we explore connections between (eventual) monotonicity and (eventual) positivity of the Koopman semigroup. This allows to view our results as a generalization of the Perron-Frobenius theory to nonlinear dynamical systems. We consider a biologically inspired example to illustrate the applicability of eventual monotonicity. [less ▲]

Floating magnetic particles can self-assemble into structures, by a combination of a magnetic dipole-dipole interaction and an attraction due to the interfacial deformation. These structures are ... [more ▼]

Floating magnetic particles can self-assemble into structures, by a combination of a magnetic dipole-dipole interaction and an attraction due to the interfacial deformation. These structures are periodically deformed in a non reciprocal way using magnetic ﬁelds, which leads to controllable low Reynolds number locomotion. Such microswimmers provide a basis for micromanipulation applications such as transport of micro-objects, local mixing of ﬂuids or surface cleaning. [less ▲]

In this presentation, we study an FDA-approved Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) blood glucose dynamics simulator used in the majority of the practical studies on Artificial Pancreas (AP). We show that ... [more ▼]

In this presentation, we study an FDA-approved Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) blood glucose dynamics simulator used in the majority of the practical studies on Artificial Pancreas (AP). We show that under some physiologically plausible assumptions, the glucoregulatory system described by the model is monotone. This means that the system generates trajectories which are monotone with respect to specific changes in initial conditions and control signals. This strong property leads to many interesting observations. By using monotonicity, for example, it becomes straightforward to compute bounds on glucose concentration subject to variations in intake of carbohydrates and insulin injections. Monotonicity also rigorously justifies recent studies on fundamental limitations in glucose control. [less ▲]

In this paper, we provide a novel way to estimate the out-of-sample predictive ability of a trading rule. Usually, this ability is estimated using a sample splitting scheme, true out-of-sample data being ... [more ▼]

In this paper, we provide a novel way to estimate the out-of-sample predictive ability of a trading rule. Usually, this ability is estimated using a sample splitting scheme, true out-of-sample data being rarely available. We argue that this method makes a poor use of the available data and creates data mining possibilities. Instead, we introduce an alternative .632 bootstrap approach. This method enables to build in- sample and out-of-sample bootstrap datasets that do not overlap but exhibit the same time dependencies. We show in a simulation study that this technique drastically reduces the mean squared error of the estimated predictive ability. We illustrate our methodology on IBM, MSFT and DJIA stock prices, where we compare 11 trading rules speci cations. For the considered datasets, two different filter rule specifications have the highest out-of-sample mean excess returns. However, all tested rules cannot beat a simple buy-and-hold strategy when trading at a daily frequency. [less ▲]

Fluvial dikes are common structures constructed for flow channelization, prevention of river bed lateral migration and for flood protection purposes. Their aging increases their vulnerability to extreme ... [more ▼]

Fluvial dikes are common structures constructed for flow channelization, prevention of river bed lateral migration and for flood protection purposes. Their aging increases their vulnerability to extreme hydro-logical events, and subsequently may cause their failure. Many laboratory studies of overtopping induced dike failure were conducted, dealing mainly on normal configurations (i.e. dam break configuration) without ac-counting for the influence of a parallel flow. The fluvial dike breaching process remains, therefore, insuffi-ciently studied. A simplified model assuming a parameterized evolution of the breach geometry has been de-veloped to evaluate the fluvial breaching process. Results showed a sensitivity of the breaching process to the main channel configuration and to the flow conditions. Also, the evolution mode that was prescribed for the breach cross-section strongly influences the breaching duration and the sediment discharge [less ▲]

The Amik Basin in the Eastern Mediterranean region has been continuously inhabited since 6000 – 7000 BC. The study focuses on the sedimentary record of the Amik Lake located in the central part of the ... [more ▼]

The Amik Basin in the Eastern Mediterranean region has been continuously inhabited since 6000 – 7000 BC. The study focuses on the sedimentary record of the Amik Lake located in the central part of the basin. Our objective is to constrain major paleo-environmental changes in the area over the last 4000 years and to unravel possible human impacts on the sedimentation. A diverse array of complementary methods was applied on the 6 m long record. Mineralogical (XRD), and geochemical (XRF) analyses were performed. The age of the record is constrained combining radionuclide and radiocarbon dating. A high sedimentation rate of 0.12 cm/yr was inferred at the studied site. The 4000 years (since ~1800 BC) long record shows that significant fluctuations of the lake level and the riverine system inflow into the Amik Lake occurred. The Late Bronze lowstand led to punctual dryings of the lake at the end of the Bronze/Iron Age transition. At that time, the rivers yielded a large terrigenous input linked to strong soil erosion related mainly to deforestation and exploitation of mineral resources. During the Roman and later periods, upland soils were partly depleted and the riverine system completely transformed by channelization (anthropic) that led to a marshification of the Amik Basin [1]. Chemical and mineralogical composition of sediments is quite diversified reflecting the significant geological variation of drainage basins. Periods with strong aggradation linked to major increase in erosion were identified and characterized by high amount of Cr, Ni and Zr. Levels relatively rich in fluorite, richterite, enstatite, hornblende and chrysotile are a result of the erosion of the ophiolitic rocks from the surrounding Amanos Mountains. These levels are interpreted as periods of relatively high physical erosion, while more humid periods led to more intensive weathering. Consequently, the dominance of kaolinite, muscovite/illite and talc indicates a climate with contrasting seasons. During the most recent period a marked increase in terrigenous minerals associated with a rise in dolomite indicates ungoing erosion as well as the drying-out of the lake. [1] T.J. Wilkinson, L. Rayne, Water History, 2, 115-144 (2010). [less ▲]

The Roman aqueduct of Antioch-on-the-Orontes (Southern Turkey) is situated close to the Antioch city. This last is located near the Amik Lake (Lake of Antioch) and close to the junction between the active ... [more ▼]

The Roman aqueduct of Antioch-on-the-Orontes (Southern Turkey) is situated close to the Antioch city. This last is located near the Amik Lake (Lake of Antioch) and close to the junction between the active Dead Sea fault and the East Anatolian fault. During the Roman period, the Amik Plain was more densely occupied than at any time in its history [1]. The study focuses on the bricks and the lake sediments characterization in order to determine the source area as well as the technical production used at this period. For this purpose, several bricks were sampled on different parts of the city's aqueducts. Furthermore, a core of about 6 m of sediments was also collected from the dried Amik Lake. The bricks were characterized through a mineralogical (XRD) and chemical (PIXE-PIGE) approaches. Unfired clay fraction remained as inclusion in the brick was separated and then analysed using XRD. Geochemical composition and clay mineralogy were performed on the raw sediments from the Amik Lake in order to compare the source area. Technological test will be performed on the raw clay sediments from the Amik Lake in the purpose to understand the production techniques used at this time. The age of the brick production was previously dated to the Roman Period [2]. The synthesis of all the data attested the Amik Lake sediment as the raw material for the bricks of the aqueduct. Clay mineral composition from the Roman period deposited in the lake is smectite, illite, kaolinite and small amount of mixed-layer clays. The similar clays composition is found in the remained clays on the brick used for the aqueduct construction. Fast and heterogeneous firing practice characterized the manufacturing of these materials due to the rapid need for the materials during the post-seismic repairs after earthquakes that are mentioned in historical written works. [1] J. Casana, Geomorphology, 101, 429-442 (2008) [2] Y. Benjelloun, J. de Sigoyer, J. Carlut, A. Hubert-Ferrari, H. Dessales, H. Pamir, V. Karabacak, Comptes Rendus Geoscience, 347, 170-180 (2015) [less ▲]

Multipath TCP has been recently introduced in order to allow a better resource consumption and user quality-of-experience. This is achieved by allowing a connection between two hosts through multiple ... [more ▼]

Multipath TCP has been recently introduced in order to allow a better resource consumption and user quality-of-experience. This is achieved by allowing a connection between two hosts through multiple subflows. However, with the rise of middleboxes and inherent Internet ossification, the large-scale deployment of this TCP extension is difficult. In particular, a load balancer at the entry point of a data center may forward subflows to different servers, canceling so the advantages of Multipath TCP. In this paper, we introduce MpLB, a Multipath TCP aware load balancer that fixes this particular issue without any modification to the Multipath TCP protocol itself. We demonstrate advantages of MpLB through a proof-of-concept. [less ▲]

in Interventions Economiques = Papers in Political Economy (2016), 55(July),

This article deals with the importance of the Indian film industry for the strengthening of India’s soft power and with the capability of the country to build an international status of active cultural ... [more ▼]

This article deals with the importance of the Indian film industry for the strengthening of India’s soft power and with the capability of the country to build an international status of active cultural power. As such, on the one hand, I seek to analyze the institutional features of the Indian movie system and to focus on the role of India within the international regime for audiovisual sector, and on the other hand, I aim to emphasize the worldwide cultural competition that India faces. The findings will show that the domestic structures are a major factor in order to understand the influence of India and its status within the world audiovisual economy, within which Hollywood has highly financing abilities and global distribution strategies. [less ▲]

The Internet is full of middleboxes that change packets and flows. In fact, there is probably no IP or TCP header that is not affected by at least one middlebox. Obviously, middleboxes impede path ... [more ▼]

The Internet is full of middleboxes that change packets and flows. In fact, there is probably no IP or TCP header that is not affected by at least one middlebox. Obviously, middleboxes impede path transparency, i.e., the idea that an exchange of messages results in more or less the same packets, no matter what path the packets takes. But no one seems to have a truly global view of what middleboxes do to packets on what Internet paths, which would however be an essential knowledge for new transport protocols to be successfully deployed. We address these concerns in the MAMI project by building an observatory of path transparency measurements. The project hosts an extensive set of path transparency measurements - we believe it to be the first dataset to deal specifically with middlebox involvement. In this paper, we describe that Observatory and a number of questions that we want to address with the data in that Observatory. Eventually, the project will provide public access to that Observatory so that researchers and the interested public can ask their own questions about path transparency issues and middlebox involvement. [less ▲]

in Longin, François (Ed.) Extreme Events in Finance: A Handbook of Extreme Value Theory and its Applications (2016)

Under non-parametric market conditions, investors usually become more concerned about the return of their money than about the return on their money. Protecting assets becomes the surest if not the only ... [more ▼]

Under non-parametric market conditions, investors usually become more concerned about the return of their money than about the return on their money. Protecting assets becomes the surest if not the only path to survival and growth. High frequency trading systems, over leveraged shadow entities, flash crashes, and stealth central bank actions, to name a few, contribute to create a “Rumsfeldian” type of world in which decision makers have to cope not only with “Known knowns” – things they know that they know – but also with “Unknown unknowns” – things they don’t know that they don’t know! The goal of this chapter is to explore such a conceptual model of the “Unknown” and to derive from it a concise and coherent set of battle-tested heuristics aimed at designing effective investment strategies to protect assets. [less ▲]

The present work proposes an extension of the existing analytical development on the radial spread of a liquid jet over a horizontal surface to the case of a thin radial flow. When the gap, H, between the ... [more ▼]

The present work proposes an extension of the existing analytical development on the radial spread of a liquid jet over a horizontal surface to the case of a thin radial flow. When the gap, H, between the jet nozzle and the plate is reduced the discharging area may be smaller than the inlet area leading to an increase of the main flow velocity downstream of the thin cylindrical opening. This increase of velocity, de fined here as 1/alpha , can be related to the relative gap of the nozzle H/R with R the nozzle pipe radius. Numerical computations with a volume of fluid method were realised with for H/R ranging from 0.2 to 3 and with flow rates Q of 3 and 6 l/min1. The results of these computations allowed to express alpha in respect of H/R. Taking in account the flow acceleration allowed to extend the set of equation from the jet impacting flow to the thin cylindrical opening flow. The liquid layer thickness and the surface velocity diff er with a maximum error of 4% between the flow predicted by the model and computations. Main discrepancies appear in the region close to the nozzle where the analytical model assumption of a constant velocity outside the boundary layer is not valid. However, further downstream the model and the computations are in good agreement. [less ▲]